Get the kids outdoors and go exploring at one of the best wetland walks in Brisbane. There’s plenty to do and see with many locations having interactive features to keep young minds amused. There’s a large variety of wildlife to spot including birds, possums, gliders and flying foxes and plenty of natures best elements to be surrounded by including trees, rivers, lakes and swamps. Not only is it fun to explore amongst nature’s beauty, it’s great exercise for the whole family to be apart of!
Berrinba Wetlands
At Berrinba Wetlands you’ll find 8.5km of walkways and bike tracks, making it easy for your family to decide the length of the walk you’d like to take. There’s an interpretive centre featuring interactive LCD screens and a viewing platform, bringing the screens kids are so used to seeing indoors out into the open environment. You can discover a large variety of bird and animal species homed in Berrinba Wetlands thanks to the 100 nesting boxes that have been placed around the wetlands for birds, possums and gliders. In addition to the wildlife, there are over 430, 000 Australian plants surrounding the walkways.
The paths at Berrinba Wetlands are wide enough for kids to ride a bike or a scooter, or for young families to push a pram through. The area is dog friendly, allowing even the four-legged members of your family to enjoy the walk. Berrinba Wetlands also is home to at least 3 playgrounds ranging in equipment suitable for toddlers through to teenagers with an impressive flying fox as an attraction. It also has a range of facilities available such as barbeques, toilets, picnic areas, basketball courts and fitness equipment.
Boondall Wetlands
Located 15 kilometres north of Brisbane’s CBD, Boondall Wetlands is made up of approximately 1150 hectares of tidal flats, mangroves, saltmarshes, grasslands and open forest. There are plenty of walks to go on all ranging in difficulty and lengths, starting at just 100 metres all the way to 13 kilometres. You can choose to go bushwalking or stick to the pathways where you can walk or ride a bike.
Plenty of wildlife can be spotted at Boondall Wetlands including flying foxes, possums, squirrel gliders, frogs, reptiles and butterflies as well as a diverse variety of birdlife. You can visit Anne Beasley lookout beside the bikeway which overlooks the wetlands and Moreton Bay. Alternatively, you can follow the Nurri Millen Totem Trail which is a series of cast aluminium totems that symbolise aspects of the Indigenous Australian Culture in the wetlands. The wetlands are also now home to the Bondall Wetlands Environment Centre.
Tinchi Tamba Wetlands
Tinchi Tamba Wetlands is over 380 hectares in size and is 19 kilometres north of the Brisbane CBD, fringing on Pine Rivers and Bald Hills Creek. The wetlands are named after the Indigenous names for ibis and the mangroves where Indigenous Australians hunted and fished in the food-rich wetlands for thousands of years. Tinchi Tamba is shaped by both freshwater and saltwater flooding and during major floods through spring tides most of the wetlands are covered by water.
Popular tracks include the 3 kilometre Island Circuit Track and the 1 kilometre Bird Hide Track. The Island Circuit Track crosses the mangroves and saltmarshes along the riverbank and allows you to see roosting shorebirds amongst the saltmarshes during high tide throughout summer. It is recommended to check the tide chart before visiting to ensure the track is accessible. The Bird Hide Track takes you through the open grassland and is recommended to be completed during the winter months during low tide to ensure you can see the shorebirds.
Wynnum Mangrove Boardwalk
Stretching 1.5 kilometres, this walk is one not to miss. The boardwalk can be experienced completely differently all by whether you go at high or low tide. Going when the river is at low tide allows children to observe the sea creature life amongst the mangrove roots below while at high tide they can observe the river at peak level. There are benches throughout which are accompanied by information plaques that are in the form of a storybook. These plaques allow children to learn about the boardwalk and it’s surroundings in a way that is interesting to them. Don’t miss the platform along the way which faces out to sea, offering spectacular water and bay views.
Eagleby Wetlands
Eagleby Wetlands is located adjacent to the Albert River and is home to many waterbirds and reptiles. There is melaleuca and brackish swamps, a freshwater lake, woodland, cane fields and open grassland at the location. It is home to over 200 native bird species, and almost half of the bird species found in Queensland. There’s plenty of walking tracks with a 3 kilometre return, a viewing platform, and an interpretive centre, making it an ideal visiting spot for those in Brisbane’s southern suburbs.
Tabbil Ban Dhagun Mangrove Boardwalk
The Tabbil Ban Dhagun Mangrove Boardwalk is located just over 20 kilometres out of the Brisbane CBD in Nudgee Beach. The pram-friendly boardwalk stretches for 2 kilometres through the mangroves and juts out at several points to reveal magnificent views of Shorncliffe.
If you come to the boardwalk at low tide you may get to see crab colonies and other lively crustaceans!
Point Halloran Reserve
Point Halloran Reserve is located just over 35 kilometres out of the Brisbane CBD in Victoria Point. The reserve is made up of both bay and creek and at any time walers could experience swamps, ponds, dry forests, paperbark groves and lunar landscapes or red claypan. The reserve is home to two tracks: Wet n’ Wild Circuit and Point Halloran Walk.
The Wet n’ Wild Circuit is a 1.25km circuit taking approximately 30mins, leaving from the designated car park off Orana St. It is pram-friendly and along the way you are bound to see tea tree groves, red claypan flats, she-oaks, a red gum forest and contemplation benches feature in this one and even a koala.
Point Halloran Walk incorporates the Wet n’ Wild Circuit, making it 2.8 kilometres. Walkers will bypass bird ponds and both dry and Jurassic looking forests, to join the Wet’n’Wild Circuit.
Lota Creek Boardwalk
Lota Creek Boardwalk is a part of the Brisbane Bayside Parklands and stretches 2 kilometres through the mangroves and across Lota Creek. The boardwalk is wide enough to accommodate bikes, strollers and wheelchairs. The track is mostly flat and suited to all fitness ages plus you can bring your dog along too. There are also great facilities nearby such as picnic facilities, a children’s playground and an enormous off-leash dog area.
Wetland walks are a great way to bring the family together for some quality time, all whilst doing some exercise and exploring the beauty nature has to offer!
